Battle for Macragge WH40K
by Mattwho81
Summary: A compliation of short stories regarding the battle for Macragge. Any changes made are strictly for the purpose of creating a single narrative, all credit goes to Games Workshop.


_The battle of Macragge_

Honoured lords the following information is deemed classified and anyone without level delta 3 clearance found to be in possession of the following data should be immediately be subjected to public execution by ritual flaying, as per Inquisitorial regulation 132/754, sub-section 37, paragraph C.

**This document endeavours to highlight the terrible danger presented to our beloved Imperium by a completely new alien race. This race recently attacked the great bastion of the eastern Fringe, Ultramar, home of the Ultramarines. The highly vulgar rumours and conflicting reports rippling out from this event caused great distress upon Terra. The gossip and baseless rumours led to great displays of rioting and mass hysteria unbecoming subject of the divine Emperor. It was this situation that prompted your august selves to dispatch me on a mission to quash these rumours and end the rife speculation and doubt.**

**I regret to inform the council that my mission has been a failure, I cannot refute the claims regarding the scale of the danger to our galaxy and must myself state that these rumours have grossly underestimated the threat. **

**Rather than dilute the menace with dreary analysis and dry reports I have instead complied a series of first hand accounts and journals including reports from Inquisitor Krpytman who must now be considered the leading authority upon the new threat. **

It is my hope that these reports will convey the sheer scale of the threat these 'Tyrannids' pose and that after reading you will support my recommendation to increase our military presence on the Eastern Fringe tenfold.

**Personal Log: **

**Inquisitor Kryptman**

The first recorded contact with these aliens Xeno was at the long-range exploratory base upon Tyran. Laying beyond the range of the Astronomicon isolated Tyran, as without the guiding light ships can only make the shortest possible warp hops, a mere five to ten light years! However having such long range listening posts beyond the Eastern Fringe gave us incalculable warning of threats looming beyond our borders, well worth the hassle of maintaining such outposts. The base at Tyran routinely sent out probes to monitor the region and it was with startlingly rapid speed that a new threat emerged from nowhere. All that could be found of this unknown foe was the trial of devastated and barren worlds they left in their wake. Fearing the potential dangers the base commander immediately petitioned the nearest Inquisitorial fortress for aid and so it was that I was despatched.

However I was to arrive too late, whilst on route my ship received a garbled and fragmented distress call from Tyran itself. The message itself seemed hysterical and delusional, speaking of the sky turned black by monstrous hordes of hellish creatures, however it was to prove to be woefully inadequate to convey the horror of our new foe. When my vessel arrived in the Tyran system the navigational auguries could not at first divine the location of the Imperial outpost. The Tech-priests were forced to perform a mass to placate machine-spirits, anoint the logic engines with sacred incense, and recalibrate the gravitational sensors before the planet could be located. The cause of the confusion was immediately obvious to all. Where formerly there was a world of vast hydrogen oceans, now resided a barren, airless rock. Only a weak distress beacon coming from the sealed domes of the outpost indicated that this world was Tyran. I personally led an expedition to uncover the truth behind these events and found no survivors, no bodies, no supplies and no trace of the attackers. The base's equipment had been ravaged but somehow the destruction seemed mindless as if the attackers had not understood the value of the data sealed within. Still the beacon led us onwards, deeper and deeper, until we eventually we found a deep bore shaft extending 3,000 metres into the crust. Sealed in the shaft we discovered the beacon and a single data ark placed there by the base troopers in the hopes that somebody would find the records and thus that there deaths would not be in vain.

The records made for shocking viewing, I saw things that chilled my blood as never before, and my admiration for Magos Varnak, Tyran's commander grew with every minute. I saw the planet being attacked by a fleet so vast that it could eclipse the entire Imperial Navy! Strangely the vessels did not seem constructed in any conventional sense, but rather organically grown, they were quite literally alive! I watched with admiration as the brave soldiers stood their ground against monsters that rivalled Chaos Daemons in loathe-some horror. I resolved immediately to act and set course for the nearest psychic booster station where my ships astropath was able to transmit a telepathic warning to his brethren deeper in the Imperium. I then set course for Ultramar, the only bastion possibly strong enough to stand against these 'Tyrannids'

The journey to Ultramar was long and arduous and ultimately I arrived too late. The first assault fell against Prandium, jewel of Ultramar, and the battle there was a massacre. Millions of troops died in the brief war and even the Ultramarines themselves stood dumbfounded as for the first time in ten thousand years they faced a challenge their holy Codex did not provide a solution for. I immediately sought out Marneus Calgar, Ultramarines Chapter Master, and advised him to call every military asset he commanded back to Macragge. He initially refused to comply, stating that such an action was strictly forbidden by the Codex, however faced with the failure at Prandium he eventually agreed to do the unthinkable: adapt and innovate.

Mile long Battleships and Space Marine Battle barges hung over the rocky planet, like vast slabs of steel. Small strike cruisers and swarms of escort frigates practiced war games developed from records of the battle for Prandium. Layers of static defence stations and minefields surrounded Macragge, which was itself protected by two vast polar defence grids. Countless swarms of fighters and bombers were prepped, though what use these tiny strike ships could be was questionable. Every day more ships arrived from the warp adding to the overwhelming firepower encircling this world, word even reached us that the great naval base at Bakka had despatched all it's reserve fleets to aid us, I prayed they would arrive in time. Against any conventional foe such might would be impregnable but against the Tyrannids it remained to be seen how we would fare. Then the shadow of the hive mind covered us and we were cut off from all outside contact.

A month later with no sign yet of the Bakka fleets, the Tyrannids attacked Macragge.

**Vox-Log:**

**Captain Tiberius**

**Strike Cruiser, Vae victus**

295/18:45 Emperors mercy, what are these things? We are but ants attacking a Grox against them! Every attack we make is swept aside. Gigantic craft, like disgusting sea dwelling monsters with curled shells and questing tentacles are surrounded by tiny, darting… shapeless things that I cannot find the words to describe. Each volley of torpedoes we fire is intercepted by swarms of these creature and our gun decks are befouled by them

296/5:30 Whole squadrons of fighters and bombers are destroyed in a heartbeat and while our lasers burn gaping tears in the chitinous hides of these beasts we cannot bring enough fire to bear to tackle them all at once. I saw the Rex Imperator pass too close to one of the hulking craft, becoming ensnared by some loathsome organ that dragged the ship into its gaping maw. The ship was torn in too by thousands of scything talons and tearing claws. For every one of the smaller ships we destroy, a hundred times that number are vomited from the belly of the larger bio-ships. We must retreat back to Macragge; we cannot fight in this manner and survive. To die this way is no service to the Emperor and we may yet find another way to triumph

298/03:23 We are now committed on a perilous course of action. With no sign of the Bakka fleet, Lord Calgar has ordered the fleet to move past Macragge and draw the aliens onto the defence guns. If the Tyrannids spread out to engulf the planet, as they did at Prandium, our guns may be enough to break them. I pray the Emperor is speaking through Lord Calgar, for we are lost if he is not.

298/ 05:50 The Tyrannids have moved to engulf Macragge, the orbital stations are being overwhelmed, but they are exacting a heavy toll upon the foul Xeno. I shall commend the souls of those brave gunners to the Emperor in my prayers. There! There! Do you see? The polar defence grids have their range! See how the aliens burn! Lord Calgar orders us to re-engage! May the Emperor guide our guns.

298/06:23 The hive fleet scatters before us! As though guided by the Emperor's own hand our divine weaponry cuts a swathe through the alien vessels. Spread out they are much more vulnerable to our righteous fire and our manifest supremacy is now becoming clear.

300/11:59 We have to give our fighters more time! Concentrate all firepower on the main hive ship! It is almost ready to go! See how it spills it lifeblood into space. Kill it, kill it now! Reload damn you, gunners on my mark lay down suppressing fire for our strike craft… now!

300/14:59 There! You see it perish? Such is the fate of all aliens Wait… the other hive ships; they drift now as though they cannot function without the guidance of the larger ships. We must strike now while have the advantage. Launch all remaining fighters and bombers, reload the bombardment cannons and cycle the shield generators we are going in!

300/17:11Hundreds of the Tyrannid ships are dying, without the guidance of the main hive ship they fight in an instinctual way and are easy meat for our gunners. Many of the hive ships have pulled back behind a screen of the smaller ships and are disgorging what appears to be a hail of spore-like organisms. Our augurs cannot tell exactly what they are but they are falling in a controlled manner for both Polar Regions. My prayers are with the defenders on the planets surface.

301/16:11 The Tyrannids are withdrawing! Their battered ships fall back before us. The order has come to give pursuit and eradicate them. Though we are outnumbered ten to one we shall prevail and destroy the foe. Through the flames of perdition and for the Emperor we shall follow the aliens to the edge of the galaxy if need be! The victory shall be ours!

**Journal:**

**Captain Reno**

**Ultramar Defence Auxilla**

Day 26: I was looking along the barrel of my lasgun, trying to keep my breathing even. I knew I mustn't show any fear in front of my men. I couldn't see anything yet, but that didn't make me feel any better. Worse in fact, I knew the aliens were out there, we'd all seen millions of spores dropped from space and turned day into night. The sky had burned with defence laser fire, but the massive guns couldn't hope to down all of them.

The sun was low and you had to squint against the glare of sunlight on snow to make sure you didn't go snow-blind. I checked left and right along our position. Thousands of fellow defence Auxilla troops manned the firing steps of the trenches our strength bolstered by the presence of veteran Space Marines from the illustrious first company. I felt immensely proud to lay my eyes upon them, and even more so to be fighting alongside them. Surely whatever was coming could not stand before such legendary warriors, how little I knew.

The ground shook as the Titans of the Legion Praetor shifted position, bracing their legs into a firing stance; the enormous machines must have seen something I couldn't. The air around them shimmered as their void-shields powered up and their colossal weapon arms locked into place. I peered out onto the ice plains again and in the distance saw the Tyrannids for the first time. On the horizon I saw a shimmering blurred mass of chitin, creatures beyond counting rolled across the plains like a tidal wave of bodies. A low, buzzing skittering noise came from the distant horde, insistent and grating on the nerves. I grabbed a pair of binoculars from Trooper Park and them on the horizon seeing the Tyrannids clearly.

I am not ashamed to say that my knees sagged and my heart skipped a beat as I saw the horrors that scuttled, leapt and thundered their way towards us. Beasts that defied any classification of form swarmed forwards, stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions. Shadowy forms, lost in a haze of ice crystals came after the smaller creatures, massively built with scything legs and jaws as big as drop ships. A suffocating fear rose in me, paralysing my limbs and turning my blood to ice. It seemed to me that there was no way we could fight these creatures. Nobody could stand against these numbers. I had to get away…

Then from amongst the lines of Defence Auxilla, a Space Marine Chaplain, as if sensing the beginnings of panic, began to sing the Battle Hymn of the Imperium in a loud clear voice. Amplifiers in his suit of power armour carried his voice across the trenches. Along the lines men and Space Marines began to join in and like water poured on a fire the mounting panic was quelled. A resolute determination filled me and I could feel it spread to all the men of Macragge who stood shoulder to shoulder in the trenches.

A deafening salvo and rockets shrieked overhead and impacted square in the centre of the horde, throwing up great chunks of ice and broken alien bodies. The whole swarm was momentarily obscured as every artillery piece fired and engulfed the aliens in fire and smoke. A huge cheer went up from our line as the Titans' macro-weaponry opened up, the sub-sonic booms deafening all other sounds and the ground shook beneath us as the impacts blasted huge craters in the plains. But our cheers died as the aliens came on regardless, undaunted and apparently undiminished.

Heavy weapon fire tore huge holes in the alien charge as the range closed still further. I shouldered my gun and watched as the range counter wound down impossibly quickly. The numbers flashed and I pulled the trigger and a burst of coherent light hit one of the smaller creatures full on but the super-hot blast barely slowed it down. Their speed was unbelievable and I barely had time to line my gun up and shoot again, this time my shot caught the beast in a more exposed area and it went down.

Then they were amongst the trenches, sickle armed beast with sinewy arms, slicing and eviscerating. Six limbed creatures with slashing sword-like claws and whips that coruscated with a crackling purple energy. Shark faced living battering rams with giant razor claws and screaming roars. Blood splashed bright on the snow, armour cut through like paper and tanks flipped like leaves. The sky darkened with drooling creatures borne aloft on leathery wings, vomited corrosive gobs of acidic fire.

I fought with my bayonet, hacking and killing. I ducked as a snarling creature came at me, slashing with razor sharp claws like scythes. I desperately parried and stumbled backwards, falling to the trench floor, the beast hissed ready to pounce and disembowel me. Powerful muscles uncoiled as it launched itself at me, I screamed thinking my time had come, when suddenly a blur of blue and gold came out of nowhere and smited the vile beast. I wiped foul ichors from my eyes and squinted up at the massive bulky form of Ultramarine, looming over me like figure straight from legend. He moved past me, his bolt pistol blasting aside the Tyrannids and his chainsword chopping them in two.

I was terrified, but damn it, im a soldier of the Emperor and dragged myself to my feet and began firing into the swarm. I followed the Space Marine, covering his flank and making sure no alien got behind him. My men soon rallied at the sight of this noble hero and slowly we pushed the aliens back from our position. Wave after wave broke before us and I couldn't possibly say how long we held the line. My vision blurred with fatigue but it didn't matter, there were too many to miss. I fired mechanically, any sense of my surroundings dulled by sheer terror.

Suddenly it was over, hissing defiance the aliens pulled back out of our weapons range. A cheer went up from our lines, not of victory but the simple elation of survival. A wailing siren from the base loudspeakers sounded the fall back signal and I cast my gaze around the trenches. I fell to my knees retching, overcome by the stench; piles of offal mixed with Tyrannid innards and the once pristine snow was now black as coal. The sheer scale of the carnage overcame us and we wept before the piles of our dead friends; the Space Marine for his part didn't seem bothered in the least, as if he had seen such sights many times before. Our lines were a shambles; if the alien came again we could not hope to stand. I gathered up my energy packs and joined the lines of survivors streaming back towards the bunkers of the defence grid. Word reached us that the Titans were moving forwards; trying to buy us time to establish a new defence underground. I could only pray they could hold long out for long enough.

**Vox-Log;**

**Princeps Calvin**

**Warlord Titan, Semper Sanctus**

03:34, Weapons officer! I read a jam on the carapace rocket launchers, fix it immediately! Salvo on grid 7, maximum burst! All other weapons cycle auto loaders and continue to fire on grids 1 and 3, but watch for overheating!

_Deus Lux! _Look at the size of that thing! It's larger than an Imperator class Titan! By the Emperor's holy rule, we cannot suffer such a thing to live, Weapons officer concentrate your gatling fire on that beast to our forward quarter. Begin charging the volcano cannon.

03:58, Damn it, I said to watch for overheats, weapons officer assign your self three days fasting upon this battles conclusion. Princeps Calvin, to engineer Calder, give me striding speed, we take the fight to the alien scum. I see fluid leaking from it's hide, ready the Volcano cannon! And someone clear the smaller creatures from the legs of my titan. They slow us down…

04:01, Death to all enemies of the Emperor, see how it burns! By the throne, there's another one! Another one coming about the corpse of it twin. Bring us about, turn us, turn us! Engineer Calder what are you doing down there? Give me power to the legs! What do you mean we have power? Then why are we not moving? Imperator! The joints are clogged with the corpses of the smaller creatures… Emperor save us!

04:24, Tactical officer dead, all rockets expended, the gatling gun is jammed and the Volcano cannon is fused mass… Semper Sanctus is dying. The beast is moving away, it… it cant even be bothered to finish us… smaller beasts swarm over us like ants. I, I hear them… I can hear them tearing their way through the hatches… I wont let them take us! They wont take Semper Sanctus from me! Engineer Calder begin the rite of self-immolation! Princeps Calvin authorisation, ***-***, may the Emperor and the Machine God forgive me for what I do now. Finis Rerum!

**The Lament of the First**

"And thus were the battle brothers of the 1st company tasked with the final defence against the Tyrannids. The ferocity of the foe was unmatched save by the determination of the Ultramarines to defeat them. Even those brothers honoured with Terminator armour could not stand against the foe in close combat. Only the righteous fire from storm bolters and heavy flamers kept the aliens at bay. Multi-limbed creatures with claws and swords of chitin moved like quicksilver and their blades cut down the men of the defence Auxilla with ease.

At the southern polar fortress, the vital Eagle bastion had fallen to the Tyrannids and the honour of retaking it was accepted by the surviving detachments of the 1st company based in the south. The Eagle bastion provided a solid base to anchor the defences of the southern fortress and without it there would be almost no chance of continuing resistance above ground. Situated on a rocky bluff overlooking the entrance to the underground silos, the bastion had been considered impregnable, but a Tyrannid organism was able to infiltrate through the oxy-recycle ducts. The vile beast opened the gates and its cohorts slew all within.

Brother captain Dardinius led the brothers in prayer in the hours before the dawn and began the assault began at first light. Unbeknownst to captain Dardinius the vile aliens had laid a trap for him and as the men of the 1st company stormed the bastion they found themselves surrounded. Hordes of lesser beasts charged forth and beasts larger than a dreadnought blocked every avenue of escape. Though they knew they were doomed, not a single man was cowed and they swore to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Fighting back to back the veterans of the 1st company held the line for six hours, they faced opponents that would drive any lesser warrior into madness but still they fought. Storm bolters flaring, their power fists crackling with energy, these heroes fought an unwinnable battle but they would not admit defeat. The veterans fought with skill and valour unmatched since the days of the Great Crusade, but their numbers were few and one by one they fell to waves of Tyrannids. At last only captain Dardinius remained, facing a beast straight from nightmare, fully six metres tall with four arms and a maw filled with shark like teeth. The Hive tyrant paused, regarding the brave captain like a gourmet gazing upon a delicacy.

Suddenly the creatures scything talons lashed out and there was a burst of electrical discharge as the captain's power sword parried the blow. The alien screeched and hissed, circling the captain more warily now. The beast's claws struck again but the veteran captain ducked the blow, rolling beneath its attack and slashed his sword across the Tyrant's flank. Acidic purple ichors sprayed from the wound and the vile creature shrieked in pain. Captain Dardinius scrambled to his feet and parried another strike of the Tyrant's claws. He bled from a score of wounds but fought with the strength of the Primarch. The Tyrant attacked again and its barbed tail whipped forwards punching through the captain's breastplate. As the captain reeled, the tail jerked forwards bringing him into the creatures embrace, crushing him into it ribs and pinning his sword arm. Massive talons speared down into the captain's back tearing his spine apart. But even as he died the captain continued to fight, he punched up with his free arm, and plunging his bolt pistol into its maw he emptied his magazine into its brain. The Tyrannids surged forwards and rendered the heroic captain limb from limb.

On the other side of the world, in the northern polar region, the 1st company detachments were under the command of brother captain Adrasta. Despite the bravest resistance the men were forced underground and here the fighting became close and deadly. Unstoppable waves of the aliens poured over the defence silo and flooded into the underground passages. By this time the Tyrannids were forced to pay a heavy price for every inch they advanced. Running battles were fought amongst the gigantic coolant stores and capacitors of the defence lasers. The flash of lasers, bolters and the white heat of flamers lighted the darkness. Screams, weapons fire and alien howls were the only sounds and many heroes were forged in these dark and desperate hours. Ultimately there could be only one outcome to the battle and the surviving members of the 1st company were herded into a single chamber. Every man knew that this was the moment of his death, chanting the catechism of the warrior the ultramarines fought like mythic legends and sold their lives dearly.

When the brethren of the 3rd company retook the fortress they found the bodies of the veterans. Every man of the 1st company had died battling in the suffocating darkness of the tunnels but the piles of alien dead lay so thick that they blocked the corridors. Great was the lamenting of the battle brothers, for the first company was gone, but even as they died they had broken the back of the Tyrannids and the vile aliens could not stand against the righteous vengeance the Ultramarines brought to bear. It is said that when the High Lords of Terra heard of their gallant sacrifice, they ordered the eternal flame in the Emperor's palace to be extinguished. For a hundred days it was not relit, a day of darkness and lament for each warrior of the 1st company. A finer testament to the valour of these noble heroes is hard to imagine."

**Post Action Report**

**Chapter Master Calgar**

My order to pursue the retreating Tyrannid fleet was not given lightly. Though the fleet under my command was greatly outnumbered I knew if we permitted the foe to escape they would only regroup and return. The fleet harried the Tyrannids to the edge of the system eventually running them to ground in the orbit of the gas giant Circe. As we closed upon the hive fleet our telepathic Astropaths reported sensing a great turbulence in the warp, but its nature could not be determined. I swear the next few minutes were the longest in my long life, then cheers erupted from every deck of every ship as the veil between the warp and real space was torn apart. Two hundred adamantium prows broke through the cresting energy weaves and opened fire at maximum range; the Bakka fleet had arrived. Leading the fleet was the Emperor class battleship, the _Dominus Astra, _supported by dozens of battle cruisers, cruisers, and scores of frigates, the Imperial anvil to the Ultramar hammer. Caught between the two fleets the Tyrannids fate was sealed, but the foul xeno knows neither defeat nor surrender and continued to fight on. In the first moments of the battle the _Pax Imperator_ and the _Clavis Regni_ were overwhelmed by swarms of tiny creatures that latched onto the hulls of the massive cruisers and ripped open every hatch and airlock.

Our experiences over Macragge had taught us that the aliens needed the largest hive ships to co-ordinate their movements and so I ordered our fleet to concentrate all their fire at the biggest ship. A salvo of torpedoes from our prow blasted aside the screens of smaller vessels leaving a gaping hope in their defence; seizing our chance I ordered the entire fleet to turn hard a starboard. The long seconds it took for our prows to come about dragged by like decades, but at long last we were broadside on to them and I gave the order to fire. Storms of battery fire rolled out from our battle barges and strike cruisers, the colossal broadside raking the hive ship prow to stern. Our weapons blasted into its hide spilling ichors and oxygen into space, one of our shots must have hit something critical as suddenly spasms ran along its length and it died. Without the hive ships guidance the Tyrannids lost all cohesion and fell before our guns like wheat in a harvest. For a brutal hour our guns blasted into the foe and at long last, with our magazines running almost empty, the last Tyrannid ship was torn apart.

The battle was won, and I contacted Admiral Rath, commanding the Bakka fleet, to congratulate and thank him. But even as the laurels of victory were being handed out, our astropaths fell screaming to the floor; space buckled and tore once more as another Hive fleet existed Warp space. Thousands of gargantuan monsters slithered into real-space and millions of tiny beasts turned our scanners into a single mass of contacts. This armada was ten times the size of the fleet was had previously dispatched, hard as it was to believe the first fleet was merely a probing thrust to test our defences!

Admiral Rath responded with the speed born from decades of naval warfare, organising his fleet into an effective defensive formation in the upper atmosphere of Circe itself. I wished for nothing more than to stand and fight alongside him in this epic battle but my ships' magazines were depleted and we could not make any difference in the fight. I ordered our fleet to boost for Macragge where we could restock and prepare for our last stand, the 3rd and 7th companies were ordered to make planet fall immediately to relieve the forces battling below. I could only pray that we would arrive in time to save the ground troops we had left behind.

Behind us Admiral Rath fought a brilliant battle strategy; he deployed his ships in a crescent so to catch the advancing tendrils of the Hive fleet between them. Countless Tyrannids were caught in the crossfire and billions of beasts were sucked into the void. But the number of the Tyrannids was beyond counting and the Imperials could not hope to kill them all. The cross fire from the fleets was so thick a man could walk across it and one by one the Imperial's shields failed. Rigid spines of chitin were spitted across the void, living munitions chewed through bulkheads and pyro-acids dissolved hulls. The Bakka fleet simply could not bring sufficient weight of fire to bear; they were falling one by one, to be ripped apart by monstrous, tentacled leviathans. Ship after ship fell before the foe and the great bell of sorrows on the _Dominus Astra_ tolled, as all seemed lost. The Imperials fired blind now; targeting was not needed as the sky was so clogged with Tyrannids that it was impossible to miss. Watching the battle on my bridge's holo-globe I saw the Imperial icons being overwhelmed by the masses of Tyrannids and I believed our desperate gamble had failed.

Suddenly the _Dominus Astra's_ engines flared as it powered deep into the heart of the Tyrannids and a fleet wide communiqué sounded on the bridge of every Imperial vessel. _"Attention all vessels, this is Lord Admiral Rath. It is clear to me that we cannot win this fight by utilising conventional methods of warfare. I order you all to disengage and withdraw. The Dominus Astra shall be the fiery sword that brings the Emperor's vengeance to his foes. I repeat, disengage and pull away. The Emperor's blessing be upon you always!"_

Realising the Admiral's plan, the remaining captains pulled their vessels away and fled from the battle. The _Dominus Astra_ collided with the very largest Tyrannid hive ship, and as the hive ship's tentacles tore into the battle ship, Admiral Rath overloaded his ships' warp drives. Space was torn asunder as fifty vessels were dragged to their doom in the warp; massive shockwaves rippling out through Circe's atmosphere, and a plume of gases were sucked up from the giant's core. As the plume of gases touched the rippling edges of the warp rift, they ignited! Colossal explosions burned fifty more hive ships and a trail of fire ran down the length of the plume straight into the planet's core. A gigantic thermo - nuclear explosion shook the gas giant, and in one glorious moment a second sun was born. The core erupted in a blaze of fusion fire; the fury of the inferno surpassing the combined might of every Imperial warship in the galaxy. The waves of nuclear fusion roared upwards from the core, engulfing the Tyrannids and in seconds the sky over Macragge turned from night to day as the entire hive fleet burned away to nothing.

Admiral Rath was victorious, great are the laurels that will be heaped upon his name and I believe our own brothers who have gone on before us to serve the Emperor in the afterlife shall sing his praises. The great bell of souls on sacred Terra shall chime a thousand times in recognition of the _Dominus Astra's_ crew and I shall personally carve Admiral Rath's name into the walls of the Temple of correction. There his name will live forever and any to make the pilgrimage to Macragge shall know he was a Defender of Ultramar.

**Personal Log:**

**Inquisitor Kryptman**

Upon arrival on Macragge following the defeat of the Tyrannids in space my first impression was of a hitherto unseen scale of slaughter. So numerous were the Tyrannid corpses that a man could walk from one end of the ice fields to the other without once setting foot upon the ground. By the time I landed Ordo xenos cleansing units had all ready arrived and were following Inquisitorial protocols regarding quarantine and classification of alien life forms. The defences of the Polar Regions were heavily damaged and bore all the hallmarks of a truly titanic struggle. Gazing upon the disgusting countenance of these aliens for the first time, I realised that not only must we resist them when they invade our space; we must seek them out and eradicate them.

Venturing within the hallways beneath the polar fortresses, I was repulsed to find the internal architecture altered in ways too numerous to count. Obscenely organic constructions filled the corridors and despite their destruction it was impossible not to feel that some presence of the aliens remained. Everywhere I looked, there were signs of fighting, not an inch of ground had been yielded without fierce resistance. Fire blackened walls and the stench of cooked flesh permeated every surface and I doubt I shall ever truly be rid of that foul odour.

I began cataloguing the many and varied Tyrannid creatures in an attempt to gain some kind of understanding into this abominable new race of aliens. The Tech Priests of Mars arrived with commendable speed and began the long task of collecting specimens from amongst the dead creatures. It will take many years of careful study before the true nature of the Tyrannids becomes clear but some things are immediately apparent.

Firstly the presence of Gene stealers in the alien horde seems to point to them being of Tyrannid origin. Early genetic scans appear to indicate this but it will require a more detailed analysis to verify it. These vile creatures had long been thought of as indigenous to the moons of Ymgarl and how they came to be there if they are of Tyrannid origin is a source of much debate. My personal theory is that the Gene stealers act as scouts and infiltrators to the hive fleet, probing ahead seeking out world's rich in life. In light of this new information I recommend a xenocidal campaign be mounted against this species and I plan to petition the Salamanders Chapter to cleanse Ymgarl as soon as possible.

Secondly, having seen the destruction wrought by the Tyrannids against Ultramar, I cannot stress enough the danger posed by these creatures. They are the ultimate race of predators, consuming with no thought for anything except the absorption of the next planet. Knowing what I know now, I cannot help but feel that this may not even have been a true invasion. As incredible as it sounds, this may have been a learning experience for the Tyrannids. I have perused several post-action reports all claiming that the Tyrannids would rapidly adapt to whatever the defenders could throw at them. If this is the case and the assault on Ultramar was but a proving thrust, then we must maintain a constant vigil on the eastern fringe and increase our military presence tenfold if we are to resist a full invasion.

**Thus is submit my report and again urge you to act with all possible haste in this matter. I believe that should we underestimate this foe it will be the beginning of the end for humanity. The Tyrannids cannot be bargained with, reasoned with, or forced to surrender. They absolutely will not stop and the only way we can defeat them is to be ready. We must use the time the Ultramarines have bought us to better prepare ourselves for the next Tyrannid invasion. It may not be soon but it will come and we must be ready for it.**

**For if they are aware of us at all it is simply as Prey.**


End file.
